Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1018 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	87R23259 SGM-F
2		-	By: Zaffirini, et al. S.B. No. 1018
3		-	(Hinojosa)
4		-	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1018: No.
	1	+	By: Zaffirini, Hinojosa, Hughes S.B. No. 1018
5	2
6	3
7	4		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	5		AN ACT
9	6		relating to an early voting ballot voted by mail.
10	7		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	8		SECTION 1. Section 84.032(c), Election Code, is amended to
12	9		read as follows:
13	10		(c) An applicant may submit a request after the close of
14	11		early voting by personal appearance by appearing in person and:
15	12		(1) returning the ballot to be voted by mail to the
16	13		early voting clerk; or
17	14		(2) executing an affidavit that the applicant:
18	15		(A) has not received the ballot to be voted by
19	16		mail; [or]
20	17		(B) never requested a ballot to be voted by mail;
21	18		or
22	19		(C) received notice of a defect under Section
23	20		87.0271(b) or 87.0411(b).
24	21		SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 87, Election Code, is
25	22		amended by adding Section 87.0271 to read as follows:
26	23		Sec. 87.0271. OPPORTUNITY TO CORRECT DEFECT: SIGNATURE
27	24		VERIFICATION COMMITTEE. (a) This section applies to an early
28	25		voting ballot voted by mail:
29	26		(1) for which the voter did not sign the carrier
30	27		envelope certificate;
31	28		(2) for which it cannot immediately be determined
32	29		whether the signature on the carrier envelope certificate is that
33	30		of the voter;
34	31		(3) missing any required statement of residence; or
35	32		(4) containing incomplete information with respect to
36	33		a witness.
37		-	(b) Not later than the second business day after discovering
38		-	a defect described by Subsection (a) and before deciding whether to
39		-	accept or reject a timely delivered ballot under Section 87.027,
40		-	the signature verification committee shall:
	34	+	(b) Before deciding whether to accept or reject a timely
	35	+	delivered ballot under Section 87.027, the signature verification
	36	+	committee may:
41	37		(1) return the carrier envelope to the voter by mail,
42	38		if the signature verification committee determines that it would be
43	39		possible to correct the defect and return the carrier envelope
44	40		before the time the polls are required to close on election day; or
45	41		(2) notify the voter of the defect by telephone or
46		-	e-mail and inform the voter that the voter may ~~request~~ to ~~have the~~
47		-	~~voter~~'s ~~application to vote by mail canceled~~ in ~~the manner~~
48		-	~~described by Section 84.032 or come to~~ the ~~early voting clerk's~~
49		-	~~office in person not later than~~ the ~~sixth day after election day~~ to
50		-	~~correct the defect~~.
	42	+	e-mail and inform the voter that the voter may come to the early
	43	+	voting clerk's office in person to:
	44	+	(A) correct the defect; or
	45	+	(B) request to have the voter's application to
	46	+	vote by mail canceled under Section 84.032.
51	47		(c) If the signature verification committee takes an action
52	48		described by Subsection (b), the committee must take either action
53	49		described by that subsection with respect to each ballot in the
54	50		election to which this section applies.
55	51		(d) A poll watcher is entitled to observe an action taken
56	52		under Subsection (b).
57	53		(e) The secretary of state may prescribe any procedures
58	54		necessary to implement this section.
59		-	(f) Notwithstanding any other law, a ballot may not be
60		-	finally rejected for a reason listed in Section 87.041(b)(1), (2),
61		-	or (6) before the seventh day after election day.
62	55		SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 87, Election Code, is
63	56		amended by adding Section 87.0411 to read as follows:
64	57		Sec. 87.0411. OPPORTUNITY TO CORRECT DEFECT: EARLY VOTING
65	58		BALLOT BOARD. (a) This section applies to an early voting ballot
66	59		voted by mail:
67	60		(1) for which the voter did not sign the carrier
68	61		envelope certificate;
69	62		(2) for which it cannot immediately be determined
70	63		whether the signature on the carrier envelope certificate is that
71	64		of the voter;
72	65		(3) missing any required statement of residence; or
73	66		(4) containing incomplete information with respect to
74	67		a witness.
75		-	(b) Not later than the second business day after discovering
76		-	a defect described by Subsection (a) and before deciding whether to
77		-	accept or reject a timely delivered ballot under Section 87.041,
78		-	the early voting ballot board shall:
	68	+	(b) Before deciding whether to accept or reject a timely
	69	+	delivered ballot under Section 87.041, the early voting ballot
	70	+	board may:
79	71		(1) return the carrier envelope to the voter by mail,
80	72		if the early voting ballot board determines that it would be
81	73		possible to correct the defect and return the carrier envelope
82	74		before the time the polls are required to close on election day; or
83	75		(2) notify the voter of the defect by telephone or
84		-	e-mail and inform the voter that the voter may ~~request~~ to ~~have the~~
85		-	~~voter~~'s ~~application to vote by mail canceled~~ in ~~the manner~~
86		-	~~described by Section 84.032 or come to~~ the ~~early voting clerk's~~
87		-	~~office in person not later than~~ the ~~sixth day after election day~~ to
88		-	~~correct the defect~~.
	76	+	e-mail and inform the voter that the voter may come to the early
	77	+	voting clerk's office in person to:
	78	+	(A) correct the defect; or
	79	+	(B) request to have the voter's application to
	80	+	vote by mail canceled under Section 84.032.
89	81		(c) If the early voting ballot board takes an action
90	82		described by Subsection (b), the board must take either action
91	83		described by that subsection with respect to each ballot in the
92	84		election to which this section applies.
93	85		(d) A poll watcher is entitled to observe an action taken
94	86		under Subsection (b).
95	87		(e) The secretary of state may prescribe any procedures
96	88		necessary to implement this section.
97		-	(f) Notwithstanding any other law, a ballot may not be
98		-	finally rejected for a reason listed in Section 87.041(b)(1), (2),
99		-	or (6) before the seventh day after election day.
100	89		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.